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ORIGINAL: itchn2help
The historical premise of many organized religions is the enforced belief that one cannot access god on one’s own; in fact, if a person believes
they can receive instruction from god independantly of the priest, they are treated as either 1) a lunatic, and locked up or 2) possessed by the devil and exorcised, or 3) made into a saint.
So it may not be the Pope, exclusively, but is certainly the priests/ministers, who are marketed as ones only safe, reliable translator of god’s will.
It was the scam of the multi-millenia, the original Ponzi scheme. And it enriched and empowered the Catholic church, so that they were loath to let go of the lucritive propaganda. Look what happened to the Cathars, and the early Knights Templar, who through their usury and economic competition with the Church, had to be put down.Actually, the unique thing about Christianity from its founding was that there were no priests. This is what separated it from Judaism, where most of the initial converts came from.
